Two candidates challenging Hampton School Board chair

HAMPTON — Two candidates are challenging Hampton's School Board chairman, Fred Brewer, in the May 1 election.

Hampton parents Monica Smith and David Dietrich have both filed to run for his seat, they said Thursday. Candidates must file by March 6.

Brewer has served on the board since 2000 and has been chairman since 2007. He is a retail manager at Rack Room Shoes. He confirmed Thursday that he filed for re-election.

Smith, 45, served as president of the city's Council of PTAs from 2007-2011 and has two children at Kecoughtan High School. She has spent 13 years involved in PTAs at the school and city level, she said.

"I have a passion for education and kids," Smith said. "If I serve on the board, I can have a much more direct way of making a difference. I think it's time for me to step up."

Smith said she has helped create PTAs at about a dozen Hampton schools as the city's PTA president, and that every school now has one.

She has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and works self-employed through McSmith Engineering. She has previously worked at Newport News Shipbuilding and at Alcoa Howmet.

Dietrich, 51, is retired from the Air Force and has a son who attends Kecoughtan.

"I'm not at all satisfied with the way our school system is run," he said. "I don't feel that the focus is on the children."

Dietrich said he wants to do away with school attendance zones, because parents should be able to enroll their child in any school they choose.

He will also push for board members to engage in public debates with speakers at public meetings rather than responding to concerns once meetings end.

He also wants frequent reports to the board on how Hampton students are faring academically as a group, and as compared to peers in neighboring districts and the state.

Also up for election are Martha Mugler's at-large seat, William "Dave" Pearson's seat and Vice Chairwoman Phyllis Henry's seat.

Dietrich said that Joanne Morse, an HU professor, has filed to challenge Henry. Morse told the Daily Press in November that she plans to run, but could not be reached Thursday to confirm her candidacy.

So far, political newcomers Jason Samuels and Tanya Hendricks have filed to challenge Pearson.